brand storytelling for business!

What is the rosin in your brand storytelling?

Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard. ‘Cos hells broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards. And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold. But if you lose, the devil gets your soul. – The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band

Rosin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m going to assume you know the song (and now you can’t get it out of your head). It was the line about rosining up his bow that struck me as I listened to the song just last night. I think that the act of rosining is what prepared Johnny and helped him to beat the Devil. But what exactly is rosining? The easy answer is that it is coating or rubbing the strings of a bow (that thing the violinist or fiddle player uses to make music).

I always assumed that rosin made it easier to play the violin, that is, I thought rosin, a slippery substance used to make it easier to solder electrical connections, made the bow glide over the strings. But it is actually just the opposite — rosin is used to improve the friction or grip for the bow (and ballet slippers and hand grips). I got it completely wrong. Which made me really think about something:

What is the rosin in your brand storytelling?

What is it that causes the friction, the grip and the interest in your story? As a violinist might ask, “What makes your brand story sing?” There are many ways to tell your brand story, just as there are many ways to play a fiddle. But the bow makes the instrument sound more melodic. And, apparently, it has a lot to do with the rosin.

So, think about this as you are crafting and sharing your brand story. What can grip and vibrate the story in such a way that your audience experiences all of the music and mystery that you intended?

This is important – you might not lose your soul if you forget your brand story rosin, but you might not get that shiny fiddle either.